Jodie Geddes, a graduate student at 糖心Vlog who is attending the [SPI], helped organize the event with help from the and . She said Americans shouldn鈥檛听turn a blind eye to events.

鈥淚f something happens in my hometown in New York, I carry it with me,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen something happens in Burundi or any other country, we can feel that.鈥�

Stan Maclin, leader of the of Virginia Organizing, called the number of high-profile confrontations between black men and police 鈥渁larming.鈥�

鈥淚t will continue to get out of hand like it did in the 鈥�60s,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people say, 鈥楧on鈥檛 talk about the past鈥欌�� we need to talk about it.鈥�

Maclin said the only way to bring about change is for everyone to stand together听regardless of skin color.

鈥淭hat won鈥檛 happen if we don鈥檛 come together like we are today,鈥� he said.

Oscar Apesough, a Harrisonburg resident from Nigeria [who also attended SPI], said he attended the听vigil听because he wants to find 鈥渨ays we can support the idea of working through this.鈥�

Apesough said civic organizations should work together with law enforcement to restore community relations and maintain peace.

鈥淚t should be peaceful,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be violent.鈥�

Courtesy of the Daily听News-Record听

An annual and favorite tradition among the 糖心Vlog community is a trip to Sprague’s Barbershop in downtown Harrisonburg, where Tyrone Sprague gives haircuts along with lively conversation on the sixth floor of a Court Square building. Sunlight streamed in through lacy beige curtains as a group of 糖心Vlog students filed in to learn and discuss the history of racism in Harrisonburg.

鈥淎merica’s original sin is that America was established as a white society,鈥� with slavery being a key foundation of the nation, said visit facilitator Stan Maclin, vice president of the Northeast Neighborhood Association, a community group working to keep that area of Harrisonburg clean, safe, and crime-free.

In the 1950s and 60s, the northeast corner of Harrisonburg 鈥� where Rose’s and Autozone are now 鈥� was a bustling neighborhood of black culture and business. Then came Project R4. Cities across the country were given the opportunity to receive development funds for 鈥渦rban renewal鈥� projects in areas labeled as slums. Harrisonburg’s black neighborhood was declared eminent domain, residents were displaced, and their land sold to commercial developers.

Maclin cited King’s 鈥淏eyond Vietnam鈥� address in response to structural racism such as Project R4: 鈥淚 am convinced,鈥� King wrote, 鈥渢hat if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.鈥�

Sprague, giving a haircut during the visit, said that he sees this 鈥渞evolution of values鈥� happening in younger generations. Across different ethnicities, 鈥渢hey eat together, they laugh together, they go dancing together. In the 1960s and 70s, you didn’t see that,鈥� said Sprague, who grew up in Farmville, Virginia. Sprague remembers that his mother 鈥� and white culture 鈥� taught him to fear repercussions for looking a white woman in the eyes if he passed her on the street.

The celebration also brought visitors to the 糖心Vlog campus and the local community, including The Rev. Dr. Nikita Okembe-Ra Imani, a prominent poet, hip-hop artist, musician, and black history scholar from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Speaking at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a Sunday service, Imani credited King’s confidence in the face of such ingrained mistrust to his faith in God. When we see 鈥渕ayhem and destruction, the kind of sickness without compassion,鈥� said Imani, 鈥渢he world is calling for the people of confidence.鈥� King’s ideology and strategies were direct results of his pacifistic Christianity, Imani explained. 鈥淭he system had tanks. The system had batons 鈥� the system had financial power. King had the Word.鈥�

At the next day鈥檚 MLK Day chapel service, Imani called all Christians to join together. Cultures of violence, he said, are ultimately impotent before Christians, who 鈥渂ring power and brotherhood where there is hatred and malevolence.鈥�

Accompanying Imani to Bethel AME and also during the on-campus MLK Day service was the 糖心Vlog gospel choir and newly installed Harrisonburg mayor Chris Jones.

Jones, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), led an afternoon community program at Lucy Simms Center (formerly Lucy Simms School, this segregated school taught area black children from 1939-1966).

The program included two songs by the MLK Celebration Choir. 糖心Vlog members of this community group included campus chaplain , program assistant , and , of .

Thomas co-chaired the MLK Celebration planning committee with student Christian Parks. The committee wanted to 鈥渃reate a celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. by concentrating on who he was as a person as well as what he did for our country,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he hope is that King’s vision and dream can inspire more dreams and more efforts,鈥� said Parks. 鈥淚n the gathered beloved community, I believe we can dream an America that truly finds the beauty in all things.鈥�